


A New Start

by lunabelle



Series: There You Were-The Missing Moments [3]
Category: Parks and Recreation
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M, Family, Love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-28
Updated: 2016-03-28
Packaged: 2018-05-29 18:17:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,902
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6387394
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lunabelle/pseuds/lunabelle
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Andy is still getting used to living with the Swanson family after April's return from the hospital.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A New Start

**Author's Note:**

> Requested anonymously on tumblr

April would’ve been lying if she said the first week back home was completely normal.

She’d stayed in the hospital for three whole days before they finally permitted her to leave. Her doctors told her to take it easy, stay out of work for a few days and rest as much as possible. Andy took the entire week off to make sure he could stay by her side and care for her, even at her insistence that she would be fine. Luckily, her parents had been very good about Andy moving in. They trusted her judgement, knowing full well that she could make her own decisions. She _was_ a fully functioning adult, after all.

Well, half-functioning anyway.

They gave her space, they didn’t ask questions, and they didn’t expect Andy to pay for his stay. They really were being beyond generous.

However, there was _one_ instance, about three days back from the hospital. April thought the house would be empty for the day. Her siblings were back in school after the holidays, which meant Diane was back at work as vice principal. Ron usually left early and sometimes didn’t return until dinner time, especially since he’d won the bid for his big construction project.

Suffice to say, April had been feeling a little pent up after lying in bed for the better part of a week.

“I don’t know, honey,” Andy stared at her nervously as she dug through her drawers, searching for her rarely used bathing suit. “It’s freezing out, and you should be resting.”

“Andy,” she turned to smile at him. “I love you, and I love how you’ve been taking care of me. But I’m going crazy just lying in bed all day. I think it’s actually making me feel more off. No one else is home, and there’s a perfectly good hot tub in our back yard that I want to share with you, the man I love. Have you ever been in a hot tub in winter?”

“No,” he blinked at her. “But—“

“It’s amazing,” she assured him, closing her drawers with a defeated sigh. “Okay, new plan. We go in wearing underwear. It’s the same thing, really.”

Andy sighed, knowing he was defeated. “Fine. For a little while, I guess. Can’t hurt.”

“That’s right, babe,” she nodded. “You’ll love it.”

 

The heat rising off the water warmed her skin as she dipped her feet in, slowly sinking into the steaming bubbles. April sighed, pressing her back against one of the jets as she watched Andy take a shivering step in after her. He looked a little ridiculous standing outside in his boxers, but she didn’t look much better in her panties and tee shirt.

She smiled as he gave a satisfied sigh and moved to sit beside her.

“Good?” she laughed.

“Babe,” he leaned his head back against the side of the tub, dumb bliss spreading across his face. “Remind me never to question you again.”

“I will,” she whispered. Lifting herself up, she sat down in his lap, facing him and linking her arms around his neck. “Time to relax,” she smiled, peppering his chest with kisses.

“April,” Andy sat up a little straighter, a tiny smirk on his face. “What if someone sees us?”

“So what?” she replied. “Nobody’s home, and no one’s gonna think to look out their windows and stare in my family’s backyard.” She kissed him softly on the lips. “Plus, there’s a million bubbles. No one can see anything from the waist down.”

“You’re so smart, honey. You think of everything.”

Andy brought his arms around her back, resting his hands on her waist. April groaned softly as he bent down to kiss her neck. His lips were cool against her exposed skin in the near freezing temperature, contrasting deliciously with the warmth from the hot tub. 

“Mmm,” she mumbled. “I’m totally feeling a million times better.”

“Awesome,” his voice was muffled against her skin, kissing up her neck until he met her lips again.

April honestly didn’t remember when her top had come off, or hear the rumble of a vehicle rolling into the driveway. She also didn’t hear the slamming of a car door, but apparently neither did Andy. In fact, they didn’t hear anything until a very pronounced cough sounded from somewhere to their immediate left.

April broke away from Andy, only to look up and see him wide-eyed and staring over her shoulder. Turning her head slightly to the left, she cursed out loud when she saw Ron a few feet from the hot tub, looking everywhere but at the two of them.

“Oh my God!” she exclaimed. “What—why are you home?”

Ron cleared his throat again. “I had to come back home…I left a bunch of folders for the Morningstar project in the living room.”

April sunk lower into the tub, hiding her face against Andy’s shoulder. “Dad, you could’ve…”

“Called?” Ron offered, his mouth a thin line.

“Ron,” Andy shook his head. “I’m so sorry—we just—we thought no one would be home. This is on me, I shouldn’t have—“

“Andy!” April looked up at him, tapping him hard on the chest. “Stop taking the blame! This was my idea.”

“Honestly kids,” Ron rubbed between his eyes with his thumb and forefinger. “I really don’t care who’s idea it was. Just next time, save this type of thing for when you’re indoors…in your own apartment…away from the rest of the general public.”

“We will, sir,” Andy nodded vigorously.

“So I’m going to go inside,” Ron said, pointing back toward the house and still not making eye contact. “I’m going to get my folders, and I’m going to go back to work. Then, I’ll see you both tonight at dinner, like we promised your mother.”

“Yeah,” April said in a tiny voice. “Sounds…good.”

The two of them watched Ron walk away, though the back door of the house and out of sight. Once he was gone, April leaned her head against Andy’s chest and let out a heavy breath.

“Oh my God,” Andy muttered.

“I can’t believe that just happened,” April covered her face with her hands.

“Well, at least he couldn’t see under the bubbles,” Andy offered, sounding hopeful.

April shook her head miserably. “Babe, I think the floating pair of boxers might’ve given us away.”

Well, it was certainly one way to break the ice.

 

Neither April, Andy or Ron brought up their backyard meeting again after that. Dinner that evening went as normally as possible, and for that April was grateful. She could tell her father was, too.

Her younger brother John was the most curious about Andy staying with them. While Ivy and Zoey shrugged the situation off in all their teenage indifference, John seemed genuinely interested in anything Andy had to say.

“…That’s when I tackled Eddie Vedder to the ground, and asked him to sign my shirt,” Andy said proudly, finishing his story. 

“Did he sign it?” John asked, the eleven-year-old’s eyes wide with admiration.

“No, I actually got kicked out of the concert,” Andy shrugged. “But it was worth it.”

“Awesome!”

Diane smiled from across the table, catching April’s eye.

“If your parents say it’s okay, maybe sometime I can take you to a show or something,” Andy suggested. “Maybe not Pearl Jam, but something just as awesome.”

“Can I go mom and dad?” John asked excitedly.

“We’ll talk about it,” Diane winked at Andy.

April squeezed Andy’s hand under the table. He definitely knew how to be comfortable around other people. This was, after all, their first “official” family dinner since she’d been back from the hospital.

“Is Andy going to live here with us?” John asked, turning to April.

“Andy’s going to be living with me,” she nodded. “So in a way, yes, he’ll just be upstairs.”

“Awesome!” her brother grinned.

“Wait,” Zoey finally looked up from her phone, which she’d been trying to conceal under the table for the majority of the dinner. “So how come April gets to have her boyfriend _live_ with her, and mine can’t even sleep over?”

“Because you are seventeen years old,” Ron grumbled. “You’re not even an adult yet. Your sister is twenty-three, and mostly lives on her own. It just happens to be that she lives on the third floor.”

“Not fair,” Zoey muttered, frowning.

“Zoey…” Diane’s voice had that warning tone.

“I think it’s pretty fair,” April shrugged, smirking at Andy.

“So are you guys like, gonna get married?” Ivy piped up.

April looked at Andy, who opened his mouth to respond and closed it just as quickly.

“I don’t know,” April answered truthfully.

“Who not?” Ivy persisted.

“Let’s change the subject,” April said loudly.

“Yeah, um, Ron?” Andy looked up. “This is awesome steak. Reminds me of the venison I cooked with my brothers when we used to go hunting.”

Ron looked up from his dish, an interested gleam in his eyes.

“Hunting, you said?”

“Yeah,” Andy nodded. “I haven’t been in a while, but we used to go a few times a year.”

“That’s impressive, son,” Ron said, putting down his fork. “Maybe one of these days we can head out and you can show me your technique.”

“Yeah, um, I think that would be awesome,” Andy smiled. “First we gotta get through football season, right? If the Colts don’t make it to the playoffs this year, I think I’ll go nuts.”

“It’s high time they had their moment,” Ron agreed.

April nudged Andy’s leg with her foot, shooting him a grin. He smiled back at her happily.

The fact that her dad seemed to like him…that was a great sign. She wasn’t sure how much of a chance he originally had after the unfortunate meet-up from this morning, but things were definitely looking up.

 

Climbing into bed that night, April leaned in to Andy’s chest like usual, ready to curl up and sleep. He wrapped his arm around her side, the both of them tired from the long day. Even though she’d been back a few days, April still found she was getting more tired lately than she’d ever been.

“My family likes you a lot,” she mumbled, closing her eyes and breathing him in. “You totally won them over.”

Andy chuckled. “That’s awesome, because after this morning I thought I was done for.”

“Nah,” she yawned. “You’re definitely good.”

“Well, that’s great,” Andy added. “Because even if they hated me, there was no way they could keep me apart from you.” He rubbed her arm, leaning his head against hers. “How you feeling?”

“So tired,” April said softly. “Can’t keep my eyes open.”

Andy kissed her head. “If you’re not feeling like yourself in a few more days, we should definitely go back to the hospital…just to check everything.” He sounded concerned. “You barely touched dinner the past two days.”

“I just don’t have the stomach for it,” she told him. “I think I’m still coming off the medication from the hospital.”

“We’ll get you straightened out, babe. I promise.”

They rested in silence for a few moments. Andy clicked off the bedside lamp, while April started drifting off. Maybe he thought she was already asleep, but April couldn’t help but smile when she heard him whisper, “I love you so much.”

“Love you too,” she replied, and April felt Andy’s grip around her tighten.


End file.
